The South Dakota Department of Revenue says that taxpayers are getting with the program when it comes to filing their taxes and registering their cars. Revenue’s July 25 report of Fiscal Year 2023 performance measures to the Government Operations and Audit Committee shows steady increases in the percentages of business tax returns filed electronically, business tax revenue collected electronically, motor vehicle registrations renewed online, and property tax forms submitted electronically:
Online motor vehicle registrations didn’t increase enough to meet Revenue’s 20% target, but Revenue attributes that failure to the state’s redesign and reissue of physical plates this year. South Dakota vehicle owners can order new plates through SDCars, but the state charges an extra mailing fee for plates, which the Legislature and Governor raised from $5.00 to $7.50 with emergency House Bill 1042 on March 15. Revenue says registrants were more likely to pick up new plates in person at the courthouse. Next year, they’ll get to see if HB 1042’s 50% price hike in the mailing fee for tags alone (from $1.00 to $1.50) continues to depress the uptake of online renewals.